General government sector expenditure exceeded revenue resulting in a GFS net operating balance of -$8,159m.

The GFS net lending(+)/borrowing(-) position for the general government sector was -$12,884m.

GFS KEY FIGURES: ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT, ORIGINAL

Dec Qtr 2010

Mar Qtr 2011

Dec Qtr 2010 toMar Qtr 2011

$m

$m

% change

Current Prices

Taxation revenue

General government

92 682

88 984

-4.0

Total revenue

General government

113 228

109 093

-3.7

Public Non-Financial corporations

17 650

17 659

0.1

Total expenses

General government

120 520

117 252

-2.7

Public Non-Financial corporations

16 396

16 675

1.7

GFS Net operating balance

General government

-7 292

-8159

..

Public Non-Financial corporations

1 254

984

..

GFS Net lending(+)/borrowing(-)

General government

-14 243

-12 884

..

Public Non-Financial corporations

636

2 293

..

QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS PUBLIC SECTOR MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for the March quarter 2011 which will be included in the Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0). The key figures shown include Government Final Consumption Expenditure and Gross Fixed Capital Formation for general government and public corporations, seasonally adjusted in current prices and chain volume terms.

In the March quarter 2011:

In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, total general government final consumption expenditure increased by $815m, a rise of 1.4% compared with December quarter 2010.

(a) See paragraph 35 of the Explanatory Notes for the relationship between general government final consumption expenditure and GFS aggregates.(b) Reference year for chain volume measures is 2008-09.

MARCH QUARTER 2011 GFS RELEASE

This release presents quarterly government finance statistics on an accrual accounting basis. All tables are presented in GFS operating statement format and are for the general government sector, with the exception of Table 2 which presents data for the public non-financial corporations sector.

Quarterly GFS are released for the current financial year only, other than in the September quarter, when the quarters of the previous financial year are presented. Users requiring data for earlier periods should consultGovernment Finance Statistics, Australia (cat. no. 5512.0). The latest issue (2009-10) was released on 12 April 2010. Final annual GFS results for 2010-11 are scheduled for release by the ABS in April 2012.

RELEASE OF QUARTERLY GFS THIS ISSUE

Table

Sep 10

Dec 10

Mar 11

Table 1 All Levels of Government - General Government

*

*

*

Table 2 All Levels of Government - Public Non-Financial Corporations

*

*

*

Table 3 Commonwealth Government

*

*

*

Table 4 Total State & Local

*

*

*

Table 5 New South Wales

*

*

Table 6 Victoria

*

*

Table 7 Queensland

*

*

Table 8 South Australia

*

*

Table 9 Western Australia

*

*

Table 10 Tasmania

*

*

Table 11 Northern Territory

*

*

Table 12 Australian Capital Territory

*

*

IMPACT OF THE FLOODS

Flooding began in late December 2010 in Queensland and was more extensive in Queensland and other states in January 2011. In the March quarter 2011 the Commonwealth Government grant payments to the states under the National Disaster Relief Recovery Arrangements were offset by a fall in the other grant payments to the states.

PRIVATISATIONS

Privatisations of some activities occurred during the March quarter 2011 . Prior to privatisation these activities were included in the Public Non-Financial Corporations sector in Government Finance Statistics. From the privatisation date, these activities are in-scope of the relevant ABS surveys of the private sector.